Tips
Weight and bay design: Notebooks weigh from a 17-pound desktop replacements to 8 – 10-pound all-in-one models with built-in optical drive, to 3-pound portables relying on external drives. Many laptops offer the optical drive as a modular device, and you can swap it for a second hard drive.
Communications: Few notebooks are equipped with a full set of legacy ports. Serial ports are rare, most have parallel port and one PC Card slot. A majority of notebooks include a FireWire port for connecting external drive, MP3 player, or digital-video camcorder.
Built-in ethernet are now standard on all portables, with models carrying gigabit ethernet.
Keyboard: Thin-and-light notebooks usually have smaller-than-average keys spaced more closely than the keys of a desktop model, and at times their layouts may differ from a standard keyboard.
Optical and other drives: Most manufacturers offer notebooks with a rewritable DVD drive. It is possible to get a notebook with a combination DVD-ROM and CD-RW drive, but few machines feature either just DVD-ROM or CD-RW drive.
Hard drive: Notebooks with 40GB hard drives are getting scarce, but you can save money by going for a 60GB model. If you want to upgrade your hard drive, You can easily remove most laptop hard drives and transfer your data safe to keep it safe.
Tips for how to use a laptop safely:
1. Learn how to maintain a relaxed, neutral posture that reduces stress and strain to your muscles by:
- Schedule mini-breaks every 20 to 30 minutes to avoid repetition and static postures.
- Maintain a comfortable viewing distance from your notebook computer’s screen – approximately 18″ to 30″.
- Keep you head and neck in a relaxed, neutral posture; avoid excessive neck flexion or rotation.
Here are general tips on th use of laptops:
Thermal dissipation – Laptop cooling
Never use your laptop directly on a surface that prevents proper air flow, such as inside the laptop case, on a blanket or pillow. Check and see if your vents are not obstructed. Using a cooling pad can be good for your laptop.
Battery charge – Laptop autonomy
Discharge completely your battery at least once per month.
Security – Laptop tracking
Use the CyberAngel security solution to track your laptop in case it is stolen.
When you purchase your laptop, you are most often overcome by excitement when it comes to using it failing to take some simple checks before you begin using it. Though you may have checked it at the store and the staff would surely have done so to make sure they are not at fault to any problems. Things to check are the protective films on the casing and the display which would ensure you have a fresh unit. The battery should also be checked and conditioned according to the manufacturers instructions. The hinges of the display should be smooth without hampered movement. Read more »
Most laptops have a bay for the hard drive allowing access to them should you need to replace or upgrade them. Laptop drives are 2.1 inches wide and are quite thin at less than a centimeter in thickness. Older laptops utilized a thinner version of the IDE connector like a miniature version of it’s bigger kin. Today’s SATA drives use a connector that allows it to interface with the on-board connectors which can be done only if the manufacturer has considered such in its design. Read more »
When buying a laptop, it’s always best to research first. Ask yourself, what’s on the market right now? The best and most convenient option for you would be to surf the World Wide Web for what you (might) want. You might have had your eye on a laptop you saw months ago on a store shelf, but the way technology is, chances are much newer models have come out. That means new features and specifications not included in older models. Also keep in mind what you want. For example, if you want to buy a new laptop, list down what your priorities are—should it be light / have a powerful processing speed / be affordable above all; should it be equipped with WiFi or have a large screen / large memory / touch screen? These are just some things that make for better selection and satisfaction when you actually make your purchase.
The decision to replace a desktop with a laptop can be a tricky question to ask but for ultimate portability, you’re better off with a laptop. The speed and ease of transportability of laptops has long been known making it one of the most used computers the world over. There is however a downside to the compact design which is with respect to upgrades. Though most laptops today allow generic upgrades, not all can be maximized due to design and compactness of designs.
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Laptops and notebooks are just the same nowadays, with just a wee-bit difference. It was just the manufacturer’s judgment to call it either as a laptop or as a notebook. But did you know that there was a big difference between the two? That’s right.
Laptops were invented as compact desktop computers for mobility so that it can be brought everywhere you want to. And if you have an old laptop just like me, we all know that laptops during those days were very heavy. That is why notebooks are invented. Notebooks are a smaller type of laptops, with a smaller LCD screen and a fewer jacks and stuff. That is why notebooks are easier to bring. But then, in general, notebooks are just used for typing.
Now, there is only a little difference between a laptop and a notebook because of the advancement of out technology nowadays. Notebooks has almost the same number of jacks, while laptops becomes lighter.
A lot of factors, which go beyond performance and connections, should be considered when you shop for notebook computers. You have to consider additional variables as size, weight, screen dimensions, battery life, and keyboard quality.
Processor: Notebooks using dual-core processors perform faster than notebooks using single-core processors, particularly when multitasking.
System memory: A new notebook generally includes 512MB of system memory. Many notebooks today are available with 1GB of RAM which will help extend its useful lifetime.
Graphics memory: A 128MB of dedicated video RAM is ideal. Make that the memory dedicated for graphics use, rather than being pulled from main memory (shared memory). Gamers should look for advanced 3D graphics chips, with 256MB to 512MB of graphics memory.